GT40’s – 1969

1969 – Going out disgracefully

The new Group 4/6 formula started in 1969, although not as the originators would have expected. The roll-over of the Group 4/6 was allowed due to the wish to include the low production cars to meet the rules for 1969. The minimum quantity was lowed to 25 for the Group 4 Sports Cars and this was expected to allow cars such as the Porsche 910 and the Lola T70 to be legal. Nobody expected Porsche to build a car to the Sports car rules such as the 917 and this took the rule makers entirely by surprise when it debuted at the Geneva Show in 1969.

The Group 6 rules were eased to the point where the cars could be effectively Formula 1 cars with an extra seat and an enveloping body. This was expected to suit new entrants such as Matra and Alpine. The two main entrants were Ferrari and Porsche with their 312P and 908/2. Ferrari didn’t give their full resouces to the 312P campaign and at most rounds only had one car entered. Porsche on the other hand went for safety in numbers normally having between 4 and 10 cars in each round, a mixture of 908 Long Tail Coupes, 908/2 Spiders and 917 Coupes. Alfa started their Tipo 33/3’s but after difficulties developing them and Bianchi’s death effectively withdrew.

The Alan Mann Ford F68’s were continued to develop through into 1969 and eventually joined by the F69, neither of which showed much ability and were eventually abandoned. Lolas T70 Mark 3B was present at most rounds and were always there to pick up the pieces if the front runners couldn’t finish.

JWA had begun developing their M2 in 1968 and continued into 1969 eventually starting at Brands Hatch and mainly used at other rounds, the BRM engine that was to be used was never available and when it was wasn’t reliable enough necessitating the fitting of the Ford Cosworth engine. In the interim they continued to use the GT40 and while it was out of date it was reliable.

1st – 2nd February 1969 – Daytona 24 Hours

Daytona in 1969 began where 1968 left off, with no new entries. Porsche sent five 908 Coupes, Ford the usual two JWA/ Gulf’s and various Lolas and others present for some colour. Qualifying showed that the Porsche’s had a clear speed advantage with only the exceptionally well prepared Penske Lola able to match them.

Grid Top 10

1 – Elford/ Redman 2 – Donohue/ Parsons

Porsche 908 (024) Lola T70 Chevrolet Mark 3B (SL76/139)

1:52:2 1:52:7

3 – Siffert/ Herrmann 4 – Stommelen/ Ahrens

Porsche 908 (023) Porsche 908 (022)

1:53:4 1:53:9

5 – Bonnier/ Norinder 6 – Attwood/ Buzzetta

Lola T70 Mark 3B Chevrolet (SL76/141) Porsche 908 (026)

1:54:0 1:54:4

7 – Schuetz/ Mitter 8 – Ickx/ Oliver

Porsche 908 (025) Ford GT40 (1076)

1:54:4 1:54:5

9 – Hobbs/ Hailwood 10 – Patrick/ Jordan

Ford GT40 (1075) Lola T70 Chevrolet Mark 3 (SL73/131)

1:55:3 1:57:3

The race started with the top 9 quickly running off and playing on their own. Elford and Siffert led from Donohue and Bonnier. The Lolas slowed to conserve themselves allowing the Porsche’s to move into places 1 thru 5. Bonnier/ Norinder where the first to go out, constant bumps and scrapes from GT competitors eventually putting them out of the running. The Porsche malady du jour was cracked exhaust manifold’s causing lengthy pit stops and eventual retirement first for Redman then Stommelen and Siffert. This left Attwood/ Buzzetta in the lead in their 908 from the Hobbs/ Hailwood GT40 in 2nd.

Schutz/ Mitter in the only other properly running 908 joined the lead battle, fighting with Hobbs/ Hailwood for 2nd. Donohue/ Parsons and Ickx/ Oliver were fighting for 4th. The Attwood/ Buzzetta 908 had its camshaft fail putting them out and the Donohue/ Parsons T70 lost an hour while repairing a broken exhaust system. This left the Hobbs/ Hailwood T70 leading from Schutz/ Mitter, Ickx/ Oliver and the three very slow walking wounded 908’s mentioned earlier before Elford/ Redman and Stommelen/ Ahrens retired for good. The order at sunrise was Hobbs/ Hailwood, Schutz/ Attwood and Ickx/ Oliver. This didn’t last as Hobbs/ Hailwood began to consume large quantities of water before having to retire. Siffert/ Herrmann finally retired after lunching a camshaft, Ickx/ Oliver when they overheated and crashed, Schutz/ Mitter/ Attwood were now leading. Donohue/ Parsons lost another 20 minutes, without losing any places, when their starter motor jammed during a pitstop. Just when it looked like the 908 would win it had the obligatory camshaft failure leaving the Lola of Donohue/ Parsons in an unlikely first place albeit many laps behind. It eventually unlapped itself and went on to win from another T70 and a Pontiac Firebird!

GT40

#1075 – Hobbs/ Hailwood (JWA/ Gulf) – Retired (Engine)

#1076 – Ickx/ Oliver (JWA/ Gulf) – NRF (Accident)

Result

Pos

Car #

Drivers

Car

Entrant

Laps

Grid

1

6

Mark Donohue/Chuck Parsons/Ronnie Bucknum^

Lola T70 Mk.3B Chevrolet [SL76/139]

Penske Sunoco

626

2

2

8

Ed Leslie/Lothar Motschenbacher/Scooter Patrick*

Lola T70 Mk.3 Chevrolet [SL73/117]

AIR

596

11

3

26

Jerry Titus/Jon Ward

Pontiac Firebird

Jon Ward

591

16

4

20

Tony Adamowicz/Bruce Jennings/Herb Wetanson

Porsche 911T

H Wetanson

583

28

5

14

Bert Everett/Alan Johnson/E. Linley Coleman

Porsche 911

Fine Grinding

581

29

6

39

Hugh Kleinpeter/Bob Beatty/John Gunn

Chevron B8 BMW

Team Raceco

579

22

7

9

Scooter Patrick/Dave Jordan/Lothar Motschenbacher*

Lola T70 Mk.3 Chevrolet [SL73/131]

AIR

578

10

8

47

Harold Williamson/George Drolsom

Porsche 911

H Williamson

577

34

9

68

Jacques Duval/George Nicholas/Andre Samson^

Porsche 911T

Jacques Duval

571

31

10

48

André Wicky/Sylvain Garant

Porsche 911T

Wicky

569

36

11

97

Claudio Maglioli/Raffaele Pinto

Lancia Fulvia HF Zagato

Algar Ent

566

45

12

5

Bob Grossman/Bob Dini

Chevrolet Camaro

Randy’s

549

21

13

28

Jim Corwin/Mike Manner/Carson Baird/Fred Pipen*

Chevrolet Camaro

Jim Corwin

549

37

14

86

Pete Harrison/Jack Ryan/Bobby Allison*

Porsche 911

RBM Motors

548

35

15

61

Masten Gregory/Richard Broström

Porsche 910 [028]

Sportscars Unlimited

544

14

16

96

Smokey Drolet/John Tremblay/Vince Gimondo/John Belperche

Chevrolet Corvette

Zorian Prod

532

48

17

83

Jim Baker/Clive Baker/Paul Richards

Austin-Healey Sprite

Jim Baker

527

63

18

4

Jim McDaniel/Steve Pieper/Bill Scott

Zink VSR Volkswagen

HRH Corp

519

52

19

55

Jim Gammon/Ray Mummery/Reggie Smith^

MG B

C Waldron

508

53

20

62

Rudy Bartling/Fritz Hochreuter/Rainer Brezinka/Horst Petermann^

Porsche 906

R Brezinka

507

24

21

18

Maurice Carter/Nat Adams

Chevrolet Camaro

M Carter

501

32

22

32

Harold Rose/Mike Richards/Steve Hill^

Chevrolet Camaro

Harold Rose

499

40

23

41

Sam Posey/Ricardo Rodriguez

Ferrari 275GTB/C[9063]

NART

494

26

NRF

53

Udo Schütz/Gerhard Mitter/Richard Attwood

Porsche 908L [025]

Porsche

483

7

25

79

Art Riley/Arthur Mollin

Volvo 122S

A Mollin

473

58

NRF

1

Jacky Ickx/Jackie Oliver

Ford GT40 [1076]

Gulf/ JWA

470

8

27

81

Bill Pryor/José Marina

Alfa Romeo Giulia SS

A Arutunoff

451

55

28

15

Larry Bock/Larry Dent

Chevrolet Camaro

Larry Drover

449

27

NC

56

Thomas D. Harris/Chris Waldron/Ben Scott

MG B

Ch Waldron

428

54

DNF

50

Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann

Porsche 908L [023]

Porsche

415

3

DNF

2

David Hobbs/Mike Hailwood

Ford GT40 [1075]

Gulf/ JWA

401

9

DNF

46

John Debo/E. M. Parkerson

Triumph TR4

Bud Boles

378

56

NC

43

Gary Wright/Bill Craine

Porsche 911

Gary Wright

337

33

NC

98

Bruce Hollander/Robert Clark/Wayne Marsula

Lancia Fulvia HF Z

Algar

331

59

DNF

54

Rolf Stommelen/Kurt Ahrens, Jr.

Porsche 908L [022]

Porsche

313

4

DNF

52

Vic Elford/Brian Redman

Porsche 908L [024]

Porsche

277

1

DNF

51

Richard Attwood/Joe Buzzetta

Porsche 908L [026]

Porsche

273

6

DNF

77

Marty Gifford/Bill Campbell

Porsche 911

Williams

272

46

DNF

22

Bob Bailey/Jim Locke/Mike Downs

Porsche 911

Porsche

249

47

DNF

73

Fred Opert/Paul Sanford

Porsche 911

Fred Opert

223

51

DNF

57

Dave Heinz/Clarence Moerwald

MG B

David Heinz

221

57

DNF

33

John McComb/Dave Dooley

Ford Mustang

H McComb

219

23

DNF

91

Norberto Mastandrea/Doug Silvers/Robin Ormes

Chevrolet Camaro

Mar Shipping

210

41

DNF

11

Don Yenko/Dick Guldstrand

Chevrolet Camaro

Best Photo

208

19

DNF

67

Jerry Thompson/Jim Harrell/Tony DeLorenzo

Chevrolet Sting Ray

Owens Corning

201

15

DNF

21

Jim Netterstrom/John Kelly/Mike Downs*

Porsche 911

Porsche

182

39

DNF

58

Alex Soler-Roig/Rudi Lins/Pauli Toivonen*

Porsche 907 2.2

Alex Soler-Roig

158

12

DNF

36

Wilbur Pickett/Mike Downs/Bob Tullius^/Bill Bean*

Porsche 911

Wilbur Pickett

153

38

DNF

40

Charlie Kolb/Giampiero Biscaldi

Ferrari 206S [014]

NART

152

18

DNF

17

David McClain/Or Costanzo

Chevrolet Camaro

David H. McClain

145

43

DNF

25

Eduardo Dibos-Chappuis/Mario Calabattisti

Alfa Romeo T33/2

Motoritalia

139

20

DNF

59

Peter Gregg/Sten Axelsson

Porsche 911

Brumos Porsche

137

30

DNF

99

Richard Robson/Rajah Rodgers

Jaguar XK-E

Ri Robson

116

49

DNF

69

Ed Lowther/Robert D. Esseks/Frank Dominianni

Chevrolet Corvette

R D. Esseks

109

61

DNF

93

Rick Cline/Michael Pickering

Triumph GT6

R Cline

108

66

DNF

72

Billy Hagan/John McVeigh/Frans Gillebard

Mercury Cougar

Lafayette

88

42

DNF

88

Francis C. Grant/Dieter Oest/Barry Batchin

Lancia Fulvia HF

F C. Grant

79

60

DNF

38

Fausto Merello/Umberto Maglioli/Edward Alvarez^

Ferrari 250LM [6107]

Team Raceco

68

50

DNF

60

Jo Bonnier/Ulf Norinder/Johnny Servoz-Gavin^

Lola T70 Mk.3B Chevrolet [SL76/141]

Sportscars

52

5

DNF

16

Wedge Rafferty/Jack Gearhart^/Richard Wisler^

Chevrolet Corvette

Wes Rafferty

48

44

DNF

92

Wilton T. Jowett, Jr./Craig Fisher^

Chevrolet Camaro

W T. Jowett,

44

17

DNF

66

Tony DeLorenzo/Dick Lang^

Chevrolet Sting Ray

O Corning

23

13

DNF

45

George Waltman/Wallis Bird^

OSCA GT2 Maserati

George Waltman

0

65

22nd March 1969 – Sebring 12 Hours

Sebring in March presented three new 3 Litre Prototype’s, the Ferrari 312P, the Porsche 908/2 and the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3. Ferrari had only a single 312P, NART entered an ancient 330P3 that had been sleeved down to 3 litres! Porsche had five of the new 908/2 spiders and Alfa three examples of the 33/3. As expected there were many Lolas, especially the American entries and the same two Gulf/ JWA GT40’s as seen at Daytona

The race began with three Alfa Romeo retirements firstly a wheel coming off the GAlli/ Giunti entry and then the other two overheating. The real race started with the cars doing their usual Le Mans style start and Siffert making the most of the opportunity to take a large lead into the first corner. Herrmann made up the gap and started tussling with the leaders. Donohue also caught up to Siffert and they battled for 1st over the 1st hour. Amon had to stop and deal to a faulty gear lever, accomplished by kicking it.

Patrick and Norinder were out in their Lola’s during the early running. Redman had to stop to check his steering allowing Bucknum and a recovering Amon through, Amon eventually taking the lead. This didn’t last long, Amon spinning and allowing Ickx/ Oliver to move up towards the front before they too had problems when their throttle jammed and the resulting damage to the nose of the car needing a pit stop to sort. Herrmann/ Ahrens were the first 908 to retire when they had a chassis crack, Siffert/ Redman having already retired with the same problem.

The Mitter/ Schutz 908/2 was still going strong and was leading the Amon/ Andretti 312P, minor indients plaguing the Ferrari’s otherwise faultless run. Stommelen/ Buzzetta also had chassis failure in their 908/2, delays also befell the Elford/ Attwood 908/2 allowing the 312P to take the lead but after an earlier incident there was no way they could still keep to race pace. The attrition allowing Ickx/ Oliver in the GT40 to take the lead and sail on to a victory.

Brands Hatch was the third round of the 1969 WSC and the first of the major European rounds. The Gulf/ JWA team chose this round to debut the Mirage – BRM M2/300, entering the car for Ickx/ Oliver alongside a GT40 for Hobbs/ Hailwood, although both where well off the pace only qualifying 11th and 14th respectively. Porsche had their usual wealth of entries with four 908/2 spiders, Ferrari again had only the one 312P, several privately entered Lolas and making yet another rare entry, the Alan Mann F68 and their new F69 Spider. The death of Lucien Bianchi at the Le Mans trials had rather sapped the spirit of the Alfa team who didn’t enter the race. Porsche and Ferrari were quick in practice, Siffert especially.

Amon led into the first corner with Siffert close behind before Amon had to pit to replace a flat tire. Both the Bonnier and Taylor had to pit for various maladies putting them well down the order. The order was Siffert, Elford, Mitter, Amon, Hawkins, Ickx. By the first pit stops Siffert had already pulled out a two lap lead. The race was enlivened when the Mirage retired with a broken drive shaft and the two Lola’s went out with identical cracks in suspension uprights.

Bonnier crashed spectacularly but fortunately without injury, but Siffert in the lead Porsche kept driving flawlessly eventually winning by two laps from teammates Elford/ Attwood and Mitter/ Schuetz.

Between Brands Hatch and Le Mans where four races in the 1969 WSC, Monza, Targa Florio, Spa and Nurburgring. Porsche took a 1 – 2 – 3 victrory at Monza after JWA/ Gulf sent no entries and both Ferrari 312P’s retired. Targa Florio was a 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 victory for the cars from Stutgart with very little competition. Spa had two Mirage – BRM entries, neither performed well in the race with only Hobbs/ Hailwood finishing, in 7th. Once again it was a Porsche victory Siffert/ Redman winning in a 1 – 3 – 4 with only Rodriguez/ Piper taking 2nd to spoil the clean sweep. Other excitement was provided by the 917 making its debut and taking pole although none of the Porsche drivers wanted to actually drive it. Nurburgring was another Porsche clean sweep taking the top 5 positions, the two Mirage’s not making any impression. The Ferrari 312P qualified well but didn’t finish.

14th – 15th June 1969 – Le Mans 24 Hours

For the first time since 1965/66 there were several strong contestants for the top places at Le Mans in 1969, for Ford there was the swansong effort of John Wyer’s Gulf GT40’s with two of their aging but faithfull GT40’s, entered after the Mirage M2’s were deemed unready. Ferrari had two 312P’s, Matra had four cars including the new MS650 with a 3 Litre V12 and Alpine its new A220 in 3 Litre V8 form. Expected to overshadow these entries was the Porsche equipe whose armada of entries included four 908’s and in a portent of what was to come, three 917’s, all backed by the numerous GT and private entries.

Qualifying for Le Mans showed a Porsche dominance with their entries taking 1st thru 4th, 6th, 8th and 9th and running times that were fully 13 seconds lower than 1968. Certainly the 917’s were incredibly quick but also evil handlers with the drivers petrified of them. Stories of the cars weaving from one side of the Mulsanne straight to the other with very little driver control were common but they did attain a top speed of no less than 240 MPH. The best qualifying Ford was back in 13th fully 13 seconds slower than the pole – sitter.

Grid Top 10

1 – Stommelen/ Ahrens 2 – Elford/ Attwood

Porsche 917LH (007) Porsche 917LH (008)

3:22:9 3:26:7

3– Siffert/ Redman 4 – Lins/ Kauhsen

Porsche 908/2 (028) Porsche 908 (029)

3:29:9 3:32:6

5 – Rodriguez/ Piper 6 – Herrmann/ Larrousse

Ferrari 312P (0870) Porsche 908 (031)

3:35:5 3:35:6

7 – Amon/ Schetty 8 – Schuetz/ Mitter

Ferrari 312P (0872) Porsche 908 (030)

3:35:6 3:35:6

9 – Woolfe/ Linge 10 – Bonnier/ Gregory

Porsche 917LH (005) Lola T70 Chev. Mark 3B (SL76/151)

3:35:8 3:36:2

The start of the race at 4Pm was normally one of great excitement, with all of the drivers running across to their cars, strapping themselves in, and departing. Most drivers such as the Gulf team drivers knew that you don’t win a 24 Hour race in the first lap and took their time to buckle in and then started, others, caught up in the excitement missed the crucial first step. This race started in the most tragic manner possible, John Woolfe an English amateur had been warned about his evil beast of a 917, his co – driver had even refused to drive the car and had to be replaced by a works driver. Further his lack of experience in top flight racing was of concern to many. When starting the race he hadn’t strapped himself in and on the first lap while approaching Maison Blanche he put two wheels onto the grass, the car rolled, split into two and caught fire. Chris Amon, following ran over the fuel tank, fortunately without injury but Woolfe died en route to Hospital.

The entire incident blocked the track with several minutes passing before a route through the wreckage was created. Eventually the race resumed with the order; Stommelen, Elford, Siffert, Schutz, Herrmann, Bonnier, Lins, Servoz – Gavin and Galli. The 917’s were the first to pit with higher fuel consumption than anyone else and Stommelen’s became hopelessly delayed with clutch issues. The leading Matra also dropped back with a broken suspension while the Siffert/ Redman 908 dropped out. The last Ferrari also dropped back with gearbox failure.

With all of the retirements the two Fords were running in 7th and 8th. The Lins/ Kauhsen Porsche lost third gear and the Widdows Matra damaged its tail. The Herrmann/ Larrousse 908 lost 30 minutes when a wheel bearing seized leaving the Elford/ Attwood 917 and Schutz/ Mitter 908 a substantial lead. Schutz realising he was close to the lead decided to put on a bit of pace to catch up and all very needlessly collided with Larrousse’s 908. Larrousse continued but Schutz’s mount did not, rolling and catching fire, fortunately without serious injury.

Lins/ Kauhsen’s 908 was now in second, albeit 4 laps behind the leading 917. Oliver/ Ickx were now in 3rd, Herrmann/ Larrousse 4th and Hobbs/ Hailwood 5th. At 11AM the leading Porsche started to trail smoke and gearbox failure was detected and while the car continued it was at a much slower pace, only to retire shortly after. Then Kauhsen in the leading 908 had his clutch fail, leaving Ickx/ Oliver in the lead from Herrmann/ Larrousse, and both on the same lap.

Herrmann picked up the pace, Oliver pitted to hand over to Ickx, and when the GT40 resumed they were 43 seconds behind the 908. The Porsche pitted for Larrousse to take over and for the next 90 minutes the two roared around with the Porsche never more than a few seconds behind the big GT40. With a little more than an hour to go both cars pitted for the last time, Ickx staying in the car, while Herrmann replaced Larrousse and the stage was set for an epic last hour. There was now only a few seconds behind.

Each car took turns leading with the 908 being much faster in a straight line, the GT40 better under braking. After many lead changes between the two, Ickx took the lead for the last time on the last lap at Mulsanne corner and won the race by 100 metre’s. When one considers that the two leading cars covered bit kess than 4998KM, the winning margin was pretty small. This was to be the last major entry of a GT40 in a race with only minor privateer teams entering them again.

1969 – the finale ended with Porsche taking out the Watkins Glen 6 Hours with Siffert/ Redman winning in a 908/2 Spider and then winning the Osterreichring 1000KM with Siffert/ Ahrens winning in a 917. Porsche were convincing winners of the 1969 WSC with 70 points, Ford coming second with 26.The Osterreichiring victory was a portent for what was to be two of the most exciting years of racing ever in 1970 & 1971. The 917 had been an unusually bad car to begin with and needing much development which eventually occurred when JWA took over the role of co – developer and altered the aerodynamics of the 917 sacrificing speed for stability.

The 1970 season saw Ferrari’s challenger, the 512S take the challenge to Porsche and the racing was extremely close with the Porsche’s almost always winning but always pushed by the Ferraris. Further development bought on some challengers with the Alfa 33TT3, Ferrari 312PB, Matra MS670 and Porsche 908/3 all making their debuts in the 3 Litre categories.

Racing the GT40 continued with various privateers having a go in various Group 4 and other events and in South America and Oceania they were competing in meets thru into the 1970’s albeit with limited success. Laterly the English, European and American classic racing series always see’s at least a few GT40’s entered where appropriate.